Devilbirds
by Rac95
Summary: Even an easy job can go haywire. Thats a lesson Nero had to learn the hard way, as he took a job in Shinto Teito, only to be dragged in into a world of crazy game masters and busty aliens. How will everything play out for him? And what was he hunting in the first place? Rating may be bumped up to M, for several reasons
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 **So this is an idea that just was stuck in my head and I couldn't get rid off, so here it is. Hope you enjoy it**

‚ _This town is too full and too big. Whatever jackass-demon I am searching for, it will be a pain finding it'_

Exactly that were Nero's thoughts as he left the train station. He wore knee-high boots, a long purple coat with dark pair of jeans and a blue shirt beneath. As if it wasn't outstanding enough, he also wore a long black scarf with both ends on his back and two rings on his left hand one on his index and one at his ring finger. His right arm was covered by a white sling to hide his demonic appendage. His white hair was increasing the looks he got, showing his Devil Bringer, a red and blue coloured forearm, which could even glow, wouldn't be the smartest thing, if he wanted to keep a low profile.

Scanning the area with icy-blue eyes he put on a pair of headphones and continued walking through the masses in the city of Shinto Teito, formerly known as Tokyo, proceeding to find the hotel, Lady booked. He was eager to get his equipment and start his job. Right now his only weapon of sort was said Devil Bringer. Whilst moving, he recalled the information he got from Lady about the situation. He still was somewhat surprised that she got his weapons in the country and his hotel room.

' _I didn't want to know how much favours she had to cash in for that'_ He mused. Whatever this job was it had to be big.

 _Flashback_

" _I got a few strange reports from Tokyo, concerning smashed walls, burned and flooded areas or places that look like a hurricane went through. Some of our contacts are concerned that there may be demonic activity in the city and one requested that we check it out. He offered a more than decent payment for that job." Lady finished and looked up from one of said reports and at Nero, who sat on the couch eating a bit of leftover pizza._

" _So you are going over there and want me to stay here and look after the shop. That's the gist, right?" He retorted, not even bothering to look up and simply continuing his lunch._

" _No, because you will go over there and check out whatever is causing the trouble and I am staying."_

 _This caused Nero to nearly choke on his food. "What? Why? I thought you got asked to do it. So why would you send me?" He demanded to know._

" _Quite easy, "Lady replied "If whatever is causing those problems is a demon, which isn't hundred percent certain, it won't be easy to find it in a city as big as Tokyo. You have a fool proof detector with you, so it will be easier to narrow the area down." She finished and glanced at Nero's Devil Bringer, whilst getting herself a drink._

" _I don't really have choice, have I?" Nero asked with a frown on his face._

" _No, you don't. So go get yourself a duffel bag with everything you need for your earthly needs, I take care that your equipment is over there if you arrive." Lady answered. "And you should better hurry, otherwise you'll miss your flight. Besides, it will maybe help you to get over your breakup." With these final words she dismissed Nero. He flinched a bit, thinking about the event._

 _In the beginning it looked like he and Kyrie would deepen the relationship they had, but over the months they drifted apart, Credos death standing between them like a wall. Nobody would say something and she never blamed him for it, but it still wasn't the same after it. Shortly afterwards they both decided to stop walking around on eggshells and just walked apart. Still it wasn't easy for Nero, especially when they got missions in and around Fortuna._

' _I hate it when she is right. Besides I can't really complain, considering that with staying in the shop, I now have to pay Dante's debts too, whilst he is hunting in South America.' With this final thought, he went upstairs to get his stuff and get to the airport._

 _Flashback End_

Finally arriving at his hotel room, Nero threw his bag on the bed, were a familiar box laid. After opening it, he checked his equipment. Loading his double-barrelled revolver, which was called Blue Rose because of his engravings, he slid it beneath his coat, effectively hiding it. Throwing the few possessions he had in his bag into the wardrobe, he placed Red Queen, which was basically a long, rather thick blade with one sharp end and a motorcycle grip, to ignite the blade, in it to be able to carry it around without getting the attention of the local law enforcement. Now armed with his gun, Nero decided to take a tour through the city to get a general knowledge of the real layout of the city. He didn't want to rely on the map alone. ' _After all knowledge of all side alleys could be extremely useful. Besides if I find some suspicious looking places, I can come back for a more thorough search after dawn, with Red Queen on my back.'_ With these thoughts he left the room and started prowling through the busy streets of Shinto Teito.

After walking through the bustling city for a few hours, Nero still didn't have any clue who, or better what, exactly he was searching. The only hint he had, was the location of a few of the damaged places Lady mentioned, but even after observing the alleys and looking at the destruction caused to the surrounding area, mostly cuts and fissures in the walls and on the floor, the only outstanding thing he found was a hole in the wall which still was dripping wet and looked like someone threw a mixture of a pineapple grenade and a water balloon at it. None of the places looked like some bigger demon appeared there, the destruction simply wasn't enough and also to variable. Deciding to give a small update he called the shop.

"Devil May Cry." To his surprise Trish took the call.

"It's me, Nero. I just wanted to talk to Lady about the job. It seems her informant exaggerated a bit. There are certainly destroyed places here, but none of them look like a demon had a connection to it, at least not one of the bigger ones. I'm gonna keep my eyes peeled though. What about you? Shouldn't you be in South America too?"

"There were some clues that the activity there is maybe related to some cult in Europe, so we decided that Dante will do a clean sweep down there and I try to get some intel before he comes over. I'm just looking after the shop, because I have some time, my flight is tomorrow and Lady had to get something." Trish answered. "I will tell her everything you said, maybe she can evaluate the problem. Good luck on the hunt Nero"

"Likewise, have fun in Europe."

"Definitely. If you behave good I may get a souvenir for you." She teased. With a short snort Nero ended the communication.

* * *

Sighing Nero decided to take a train back to his hotel to take a short nap, eat something and get ready for the nightly search he planned. He internally mulled about his plans, which resulted in the fact that he collided with someone on the stairs, sending both of them on their behinds. The person he ran into was around his age with medium length black hair. Upon seeing his sling, he apologized and tried to help Nero up, which he just ignored, to prevent him from eventually spotting his gun, whilst telling him that there was no harm done. After seeing that Nero really had no problems, he apologized once more before both of them continued their walks. Nero was already forgetting the little collision, because he continued to think of a good plan to get more information and end the situation as quickly as possible. At least until he heard a loud crashing sound from behind. He pivoted around, only to see the black-haired teen he collided with back on the ground again, this time with a person on top of him and a few cracks beneath him.

' _Damn, it isn't his lucky day with strangers today'_ Nero thought, whilst walking back to help him up, looking at the person whose fall the teen cushioned. To Nero's surprise it was a quite busty brunette with something that resembled a Miko-Outfit. Before he could take any step closer to both of them, the girl tackled the black-haired boy out of the range of a lightning bolt, courtesy of two twins with long black hair. ' _Guess the abilities of those SM-clothed twins could be an explanation for the damage'_ Nero thought to himself, referring to the violet leather outfits the girls wore, as he slowly gripped the hilt of his gun and approached the situation. But before he even could decide a course of action, the brunette girl shouted something about not being ready to fight and took of over the rooftops, dragging the teen she used as an airbag behind her. The twins ran after her, only to be stopped by a blonde person in a black long coat, who also wore a black mask over the lower half of the face. The three started a more or less agitated conversation, which ended quickly as the blonde summoned flames out of nowhere, making the twins back up and shortly afterwards led to the parting of the three. Seeing all of them taking of in different directions, Nero quickly decided to tail them to get more information. _'Those twins seem to be the more violent ones, but I can't start a fight right here. Better get a few more information about them'_ And with these thoughts Nero began to run after them. As they left over the rooftops, Nero followed suit through the back alleys and tried to get into contact with Lady. After a few rings she picked up. Before she could even start talking Nero directly cut her off.

"Lady I am following two girls, who most likely have a connection to the destruction I found here in the city. They look human, but are incredibly fast and are able to manipulate lightning. There were also two other persons, one of them could use fire, but they aren't demonic, I picked up no presence from anyone of them, although I got a strange vibe, it was definitely nothing connected to demons or devils."

Nero decided to not tell her that the one girl practically kidnapped someone else, whilst he observed the outcome of the other situation. That was a problem he had to solve later.

Lady's response came immediately. "Can you continue to trail those two? "Was her first question directed at Nero. "Not without following them on the rooftops. And then they most likely notice me."

"As much as I hate to say it, it would better to stop following them then. You can't risk a fight in the broad daylight on the rooftops of a city."

"No shit. That's the only reason I didn't directly confronted the group." Nero responded sarcastically.

"Looks like you have some brain in that nutshell you call your head" Lady retorted immediately.

"Stand down for now, I try to get as much information as possible." She continued, this time business orientated.

"When the three stood together one of them talked about wings of wagtails and protecting those without them. I didn't get the whole context, but considering the birds were obviously important for them, you should eventually search for that too."

"A hunt for wingless birds. It sounds pretty strange, but I will keep it in mind. I will contact you if I know more about this. Until then stay on your toes, especially during night patrols. Even if they didn't have a demonic power, there still could be something big in or around the city and it is better to be safe than sorry. Just try to not kill anything non-demonic." After that Lady cut they communication. Nero decided to step out of the alleyway and continue his trip back to the hotel.

A few hours and an early supper later, Nero decided that it was time for the first night-time trip through the city. Grabbing his duffel bag, he threw it out of the window in a back alley and left the hotel through the front door, just like every other person, that wants a nice evening in the city. Heading for the alley were he dropped Red Queen earlier, he thought about contacting Lady again, but it wasn't necessary. Call it telepathy or divine intervention, he got called first.

"Nero, it's me. To make it brief, there aren't many information's about the descriptions you gave me, the only thing I got as I dug a bit deeper, were some wild conspiracy theories about aliens in the city which work with the MBI, which is the reason they rose so fast to the top. Sounds like complete idiocy if you ask me, but there is nothing else about that."

"So I should assume those out-of-the ordinary people are some experiment of a medical company?" Nero asked, equally curious and annoyed over the lack of information.

"Well considering what you saw with Agnus, it could at least be in the realm of possibilities, but I agree with you it's a pretty farfetched idea. Still this is it for now, I will look for more useful knowledge. Maybe you have more luck on your side."

"Least thing I can do is trying. It can't be worse than nothing, can it?" He sighed. "Did you get more information from our client?"

"Not really." Lady answered. "Alright I don't want to stop you any longer. Let's see who can get more information."

"Maybe I find some small fry that I can destroy, 'cause this situation starts to annoy me."

"At least you have paid vacation no matter what the results are." With this remark, the call was finished.

' _So in the best case I have some aliens from a company in the city. If I didn't know that Agnus is dead, I would think this is one of his plans. Maybe this is the work of his long lost brother, or something in that direction.'_ Nero thought, as he took Red Queen out of the duffel bag and strapped both his sword and the bag to his back, removed the sling from his arm and used his spectral arm to grab the ledge of a nearby building to launch himself up onto the roof.

His search on roofs wasn't much better, than everything he found earlier that. If anything it was worse, considering that he didn't even had the possibility to find one of the persons he saw earlier this day. The only positive thing he found were the tracks of more fights, which at least proved his hunch right that the roofs were the favourite area of however was responsible for this. _'Guess that is the only thing I know for real. Better search for a source of information about that company Lady mentioned'_. Ready to call it a day (or better a night), Nero continued his tour over the roofs, taking a slight detour to evade a club, whose lights probably could give him away, to all the humans on the street.

It worked, at least for the people beneath him. Unbeknownst to him there was still someone observing from a roof right behind the club. The dark-haired, buxom woman looked after him, quite interested by his odd weapons, hair colour and especially his arm. Taking another swig out of her sake bottle, she decided to stand up, stretched herself, displaying her short purple dress and all the exposed skin in the middle to the world. Or she would have, if anybody had looked upwards. Looking after the retreating form of Nero, Kazehana decided to get back to Miya's inn. _'Perhaps Matsu can tell me more about him, he seems to have no connection whatsoever to Minaka's plan, but there is still something about him that I can't quite grasp'_ With this thought she emptied her bottle and started to rooftop hop back to the Inn.

* * *

Seeing a possibility to get of the roofs undetected, Nero put Red Queen back into the bag he took with him, before he dropped in a backyard. He pulled the sleeve of his coat as far down as possible and hid his right hand in the pocket. ' _Better keep the sling off, if anything happens in public my Devil Bringer is the most discreet solution. More discreet than Blue Rose and Red Queen. Also Memo to myself: Get a pair of Gloves tomorrow'_

After a small tour through the streets, Nero decided to take a shortcut through the park, to avoid as much contact as possible. _'I didn't know that there still would be a quiet place in this city. Guess I should come back here if I need a place to think'_ Although all of his musings were cut short, when he saw someone sitting on a bench in the middle of the park. On a closer look Nero could see that the person actually was a woman with light brown hair in a bloody lab coat. What he also noticed was the symbol on her forehead that looked like a bird over a Yin-Yang-symbol. Seeing that there was no one around he decided to approach the situation. As he walked to the bench he could notice that the woman fixated him with an emotionless stare, but didn't show any other reaction. Standing in front of her just staring at each other, Nero decided that he obviously had to take the initiative in the conversation.

"You're okay? You look like you are in dire need of some help. And …" Before he could finish his sentence, he got cut off by her.

"I am broken, I have no purpose. There is no one that can help me." She stated in an emotionless voice, leaving Nero dumbfounded for a short time, before his anger started to surface, remembering his own time as he got shunned, because of his abilities.

"OK, who the fuck told that to you, or better who is responsible for this bullshit?" He growled, ready to find the one responsible for it to shove his boot ankle-deep up his ass. He got another stare, before she answered him.

"He isn't living anymore." After this answer she started to look at the ground again. The answer surprised and satisfied Nero. Satisfied that scum like that didn't walked on the earth, but also surprised by her blatant statement. She definitely didn`t look like someone who could just kill.

He decided that even under this circumstances helping her should still be a priority and offered her a place to stay. After he got no response, he started to get frustrated with the situation, just because he couldn't really do anything. Knowing that just taking her with him by force was no option, he used the fact that she still stared at the ground, to unclasp his gun holster and threw the gun in the bag to his sword. Stripping out of his jacket, he used his scarf as makeshift disguise for his Devil Bringer, before he threw the jacket at the woman, who was rather surprised as it landed on her head.

With a weary sigh, he turned around and slowly walked away, still feeling guilty that he couldn't convince her to accept help. He just felt helpless. Before he could get out of her line of sight to smash something to vent his desperation, he heard steps behind him. Normal humans wouldn't be able to her them, but due to his heritage his senses were enhanced. He spun around to see the woman standing in front of him, holding his jacket and shooting him a confused look.

"Why?" This question caught him completely off guard.

"Why what?" He asked, still a bit flabbergasted. "Why did you gave someone like me your clothing?" She repeated her question.

"You need it more than me and considering that I can't force to accept help, I just thought that it was the only right thing to do, if you stay so fixated on this place. Your clothing is neither warm nor decent enough to sit out here." He stated, hoping that the answer was good enough. It obviously was, considering that she suddenly decided to slowly put it on after his explanation. For a short moment he thought he saw something different in her otherwise dull eyes. His observation sadly was cut short due to the intervention of someone who was just approaching. He was fairly tall with silver hair, black clothing and a yellow scarf, the most noticeable feature was the blade he carried with him.

"Look Mutsu, it is the Scrapped One. Bring her to me." Behind the man stood a boy who couldn't have been older than 15. His whole appearance practically screamed 'spoiled rich brat' and awoke the sudden urge to slap him in Nero. The end of the small group was a brown-haired woman with a pretty big scythe. Interestingly both, the woman and the man, gave Nero the same strange feeling he had earlier that day. ' _Means they are just like the twins and from what he told, she should be the same but I can't feel anything from her'_ He thought referring to the woman behind him.

"Who is that?" The boy stated. "Get away from the scrapped one, she is mine!" This ridiculous statement, was the nail in the coffin for Nero's observation of his character. ' _Little jackass through and through'_

"Should have paid attention in school shrimp, slavery is illegal nowadays you know? And little shits like you are pissing me off in general. So why don't you take your babysitter and fuck off?" Nero answered, venting his bad mood with as much insults as possible. He got an instant reaction. The boy stood there slack-jawed that someone dared to talk him like that. His silver haired companion shot Nero a glare that could have put him six feet under, but kept enough of his composure to try and calm the boy down, who just started an angry rant.

The most interesting reaction came from the scythe-wielder. She literally fumed with anger.

"How dare you to talk to Mikogami like this. You will suffer for that!" She practically screamed at Nero, whilst running at him with an extraordinary speed. Interestingly she didn't try to use her scythe, but obviously just wanted to hit him. ' _Seems like they only use their weapons against each other. Well her mistake'_ Nero inwardly smirked, as started running forward, much to the surprise of the woman in front of him. But before she could comprehend why a human would do something so stupid, she noticed that he ran even faster than her. ' _This shouldn't be possible, how is he..'_ She didn't manage to finish her thought, because suddenly there were two boots planted in her face simultaneously. The speed of her attacker combined with her own speed sent her flat on her back, whilst Nero did a graceful roll and stood up.

"Perhaps you should have listened to me and went home, it would make things much easier for all of us." Nero stated, as she stood up, now brandishing her scythe, as she ran at him again. "Very well, then let's dance." He said as he just ducked under a horizontal swing. The moment he raised his head, he noticed that his assailant used her speed to continue the rotation to decapitate him. Nero just caught the blade and rotated together with her only to throw her against a tree.

Unluckily the scythe took a huge part of the scarf he used as a cover for his arm with it. This time **all** persons showed signs of surprise as his Devil Bringer was revealed. _'Well Shit, now it is even harder to keep everything undercover. Brilliant work Nero, brilliant work'_ He chastised himself.

"That could be an explanation, why he could keep up with Yomi." Mutsu mumbled to himself.

Mikogami on the other side looked overly happy. "He is also one. Mutsu, bring him also to me, so I can kiss him." Nero, who in the beginning was just disgusted by the manners of the boy was now outright weirded out by him.

"Sorry kiddo, even if I'd swing that way you would definitely not be my type." He remarked, as he overcame his surprise over that statement. He wanted to give another remark, but now Mutsu stepped up. "Smashing Point" With this words and a small sigh he stabbed the ground with his sword, which still was in the scabbard. To Nero's surprise this caused a rift in the earth in front of his sword, which quickly moved in the direction of Nero. Thinking quickly, he balled his right hand into a fist and delivered a strong punch to the ground before him to create a counter shockwave in the hope of stopping the attack. It worked out, which surprised both Mutsu and his young companion, although the first regained his composure pretty quickly and attempted another attack. Unluckily for him Nero used the short distraction to roll backwards and grab the next thing he could get his hands on, which was a trash can, and hauled it at Mutsu with a huge amount of power. He noticed the flying object and used his sword to swat it out of the air, delaying his possibility to attack. _'No use in holding back now'_ Nero thought, kneeling beneath his bag, to grab his own sword as an equalizer.

In his peripheral vision he saw Yomi getting up, preparing herself for another attack. At least she tried, as an icicle hit the scythe out of her hand whilst another one nailed her gown to the tree behind her. Noticing that Nero decided to look back to see the woman, who was the reason for his scuffle. She was clad in his purple coat now, although she couldn't close it completely and had more icicles hovering behind her. It was a sight to behold, in more than one way. Taking all this in, including Mutsu stepping back to stand in front of Mikogami, most likely to protect him, Nero was quite surprised himself. Mutsu used the short moment to analyse the situation.

And he wasn't happy. Yomi was incapacitated (although only for a short time), the former #7 stepped into the combat and his main enemy, was most likely in the process of getting a weapon or something in that direction out of his bag. _'I cannot risk Mikogami's safety in this fight. Yomi has no chance against No. 7 and whoever my enemy is, he is no Sekirei and I don't know what he has up his sleeves.'_ Standing in front he decided that leaving both of them alone would be the best solution, to prevent a continuation of this fight.

"Yomi, remove yourself from that tree, we should leave." He said, surprising everyone in the park.

"But Mutsu, we can't leave the Scrapped One and this new one here. I want them!" Mikogami stated. "Even as Scrapped Number #7 is powerful and whoever he is I can assure that he is no Sekirei." Before they could continue the small discussion, Nero decided to butt in.

"Probably the smartest decision today. Should have listened the first time, idiot." It looked like Yomi wanted to attack him again, but luckily for her Mutsu held her back, ignoring the taunting. As the three where leaving Nero shortly mulled over if he should follow them to beat some information out of them, but in the end decided against. One of them was clearly human and both of the others were on Lady's 'Better-not-cause-lasting-damage'-list considering both of them were no demons at all.

"All in all not bad for my first day in the city. Still have to find out what all this bird talking is about." He said to himself, straightening his shirt. After he got his sling out of his bag, he noticed that he still was observed. Turning around facing his female companion again. He decided to try a last conversation after this whole ordeal.

"Thanks for your help. I didn't know that you were able to do that, it was pretty impressive." He decided to use the recent events as a start.

"Akitsu. My name is Akitsu." Surprised that she directly answered him, he stood there for a few seconds before he got back in the situation. Not only due to the fast answer, but also because his Devil Bringer started to itch slightly. It was quite irritating. Deciding to ignore this to continue the conversation, he thought the best part would be an answer with the same information.

"Well, if it's introduction time now, my name is Nero, I…" He couldn't continue his sentence, because Akitsu kissed him. He didn't know why, but she suddenly started, pressing her own lips tenderly against his, leaning completely into him. It felt like she tried to meld into him. ' _She feels so soft_ _and fragile.'_ This were the only coherent thoughts he got together, before he noticed something alarming. All of the sudden, his Devil Bringer started to glow in all its blue glory, but even worse he felt like he felt back then in Agnus laboratory, as he resurrected Yamato and used it for the first time. He felt a short flash of energy, showing itself as a momentary display of his Devil Trigger. To his even bigger surprise, he felt like the energy was leaving his body, jumping over to Akitsu only to materialize itself in the form of two icy blue wings of light right above her back. All of this happened in a few seconds, leaving him with a feeling of tiredness.

Then suddenly he just stood there with Akitsu pressed against him, with a serene expression on her face. As she looked up at him he noticed that her tattoo had disappeared.

"You are mine. My Ashikabi." After stating this she returned to her previous position with her head against his collarbone, leaving Nero completely dumbstruck.

Meanwhile at the MBI

"We have another reaction. This time it is…, wait I got to check this again, it looks like a mistake." A completely surprised scientist said. Before he could do anything else, a silver-haired woman appeared behind him.

"It is impossible that our systems make mistakes. Now tell me what happened that makes you think there could be a mistake." Sahashi Takami stated sharply waiting for an answer.

"The sensors… they say that No. 7 has been winged. But this is impossible, that's why I am searching for a mistake."

"But we are living at the dawn of a new era. The gods are smiling down upon us. Wonders are what we want in this time. It will keep everything interesting. Now go and find me that lucky person, I want to congratulate him myself." With this words Minaka Hiroto left the room as fast as he entered it

* * *

On his way back with his bag on his back and Akitsu attached to his arm, Nero remained silent. He still couldn't really grasp what happened. Deciding to focus on the important matters at hand, he put the question of 'what the hell happened?!' on a back seat. Arriving at the hotel he tried to get to his room with as less attention as possible. To his surprise it worked better than he thought. _'Guess this place don't have as much nightlife, compared to other parts of the city. Well lucky me.'_

As he arrived at his room he threw his duffel bag into a corner. Looking through his closet he found his leisure suit he was searching. "You need something more than just my coat. Unluckily this must suffice for now. You should get some sleep, tomorrow will be a long day" Nero said as he threw his clothing towards Akitsu, who caught it and began to strip out of his coat to get into the other clothing he provided her with. Standing there with wide eyes Nero dashed in the direction of the bathroom, with the excuse of needing a shower. _'Guess decency isn't exactly one of her strong points.'_ He thought as he looked at himself in the mirror. ' _I look more worn out than I feel, I should probably get a good amount of sleep, before I try to untangle this whole Sekirei-Ashikabi situation.'_ After giving his newfound companion a bit more time to change Nero decided to leave the room again. Before he could open the door he got a call on his phone. Accepting the call in an instant, he expected Lady, with a bit more knowledge about the whole mission. He was quite surprised as he heard a man talking full of enthusiasm.

"Congratulations my friend, you just have become one of the few chosen persons who are…" Before his caller could finish his sentence Nero already hung up. _'Damn advertiser with their stupid calls.'_

Just as he finished this thought, his phone started to ring again. Expecting the same voice again, Nero wasn't disappointed as he heard his caller starting again. "Now, now you shouldn't just ignore me, for this is the ascending into a new.."

"I'm not interested in your bullshit, so stop annoying me!" Nero hissed into the phone, ending the call again. Walking out of the bathroom, Nero decided to talk with Akitsu about the plans for tomorrow, as his phone rang again. ' _I swear if it this guy again, I will get really angry.'_ He thought, accepting the call with the small hope that it would be anybody but this annoying man from before. He didn't had any luck.

"You are quite rude, just cutting me off two times in a row, when you are getting the possibility to…" Completely pissed Nero tightened his grip around his phone, preparing to give the man a tongue-lashing he wouldn't forget so fast. Unluckily he forgot that he had his phone in his right hand, thus shattering it to pieces. _'Well that's one way to get rid of him'_ Nero thought as he sighed inwardly, noticing that also just destroyed his comm line to Lady. Noticing that Akitsu had taken his advice and laid in the bed, obviously sleeping, Nero decided, to that it was also nap time for him. As relaxed on the armchair, he wanted to give her some space, he nearly instantly started to drift away. _'If this day was an indicator, my time here, will be definitely not boring.'_ This were his last thoughts before sleep claimed him.

* * *

Unbeknownst to Nero, his main reason for his trip started to stir, after feeling a short burst of power in the city above him.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **Well here is the second chapter. Sadly nothing but the idea of the story belongs to me**

A bit earlier at the Izumo Inn

' _Perhaps it was a bad idea to wake her up'_ Exactly this were Kazehanas thoughts as she sat across a purple haired woman who wore a similar coloured hakama, together with a white haori. Despite her sweet smile, she scared Kazehana to the bone. Perhaps the demonic, purple mask behind her head contributed to that effect, or it was just the knowledge what she was capable of. Or both factors together.

"So you saw a white-haired purple-clad man on the roof, carrying a sword of some sort and having a red and blue coloured arm. After you decided to drink because of your rejection from Minaka. And then decided to drink some more, before you came back to tell me your observation? That is what you wanted to tell me?" Even her voice sounded sweet and friendly, which made the contrast to the Miasma behind her even scarier. Not daring to answer, Kazehana just gulped and nodded.

"Miya, look what I just found out!" With this words a red-haired woman with glasses, came rushing into the room, effectively taking Miya's attention from Kazehana to the new member in the room.

"Oh my Matsu, didn't we talk about just leaving your room and running around in the Inn?" Miya asked with an even bigger smile.

"But…but…but, this is important, really!" Matsu stuttered, holding the laptop she brought with her like shield in front of her face. "I saw this whilst looking into the system of the MBI again and it was simply, ah how should I put it…. You just have to look at it yourself." She exclaimed planting her laptop on the table in front of Miya, still keeping as much distance as possible and pressed a few buttons. The screen sprung to live, showing the previous encounter between Nero and Akitsu, including the following fight and Akitsu's winging, gaining surprising reactions both from Miya and Kazehana in regard of his abilities, especially the short display of Nero's own demonic spirit. Kazehana was extremely surprised and fascinated by the whole display, showing an interest on the light show of the teen she accidently saw. In the meantime, Miya just stayed silent. After noticing that Miya was obviously contemplating over the definitely non-human male and his amazing display against a single number, her fear-inducing aura vanished from the room and both, Kazehana and Matsu, took this as a clue to slowly remove themselves from said room and leaving Miya alone with her thoughts.

' _First those creatures appear and then shortly afterwards he arrives. He could be a, or one of the biggest predators. Either way, I should sharpen my skills and my blade even more.'_

* * *

Waking up the next morning, Nero woke up with the feeling of some weight on his chest. ' _Guess this whole thing yesterday took a bit more out of me than I thought or felt'_ He thought as he noticed one strange thing. It was not only a weight, but a warm one. Opening his eyes, still weary from the lack of sleep due to his short adventure last night, he quickly found out that the feeling was not from the whole escapades from his night before, but from Akitsu who choose to change her sleeping place from the bed to his lap on the armchair, resulting in her being nestled comfortably against him with her head on his shoulder and her arms around him.

Seeing that he had no possibility to get up without waking her, Nero gently tapped her on the shoulder which got him the expected reaction. As she opened her eyes to look at him, she smiled at him happily." Ah good morning Ashikabi." She said, whilst standing up, giving himself the possibility to rise himself. "Do me a favour and call me Nero." He retorted whilst stretching his arms over his head, to get rid of the stiffness he got from sleeping on a chair. "Calling me Ashikabi makes my think of that little idiot we met yesterday and I don't want to think about him now." _Although I most likely have to, because I am sure I didn't hear the last of him'_ He thought to himself.

Seeing her nodding, he decided to ask her a bit more about herself and her past, to finally shed more light into the whole situation he stumbled in last night. Before he could open is mouth, he heard a knock at his door. Wondering who it could be and what the reason was, he slowly went to the door, grabbing his coat on the way, slinging it over his right shoulder to hide his hand. Opening the door, he found himself face to face with the receptionist, which kind of surprised him. _'On the other side who did I expect.'_ He mused to himself. Before Nero could ask why he was there, the worker handed him a package. "An MBI-worker delivered this right this morning with the order to give right to you." The receptionist said, not mentioning that he got a fair amount of money for this delivery. His eyes widened slightly as he noticed Akitsu, who appeared behind Nero as the MBI was mentioned, but regained his composure instantly. "If there is anything else, don't hesitate to call." He said before quickly leaving downstairs to continue his job, before Nero could even ask him anything.

Closing his door, Nero sat the package down and opened it. The first thing he noticed was a device that looked similar to a PDA. Beneath it was something that looked like clothing, but before he could look at it, the PDA started to beep. Taking it out of the package, clicked a button to activate it. He was rewarded with the face of a middle-aged man with disarrayed white hair and a pair of rectangular glasses, combined with a slight maniacal look. _'What the hell is wrong with this guy.'_ Nero thought, seeing his face on the screen in front of him as the, most likely crazy, man started to talk.

"Now that you got the package I sent for you my dear friend, it is time to.." Before he could finish his sentence Nero recognized the voice from the calls he got the evening before, enraging him instantly. ' _This goddamn persistent Pest.'_ He thought before responding.

"What the hell is your problem?!" Nero practically shouted in the communicator, which didn't interested his caller, who simply used the time he got to continue. "..talk about Akitsu and your great new role in this city." He finished his sentence and pushed up his glasses, most likely to create a dramatic pause in his speech.

This one sentence got an immediate reaction out of Nero, effectively silencing him and glaring at the phone, whilst his caller continued. "I am Minaka Hiroto, CEO of the MBI and now that you winged and forged your lifelong connection, you are part of the great Sekirei Plan. 108 of this magnificent creatures have been released, searching their destined one and then fighting for him in the grand tournament that will be starting shortly. Only the winner will be allowed to ascend in this new era of gods. And you are part of it." He ended his ranting, pointing his finger at Nero and looked at him expectantly, waiting for a reaction.

"You aren't by accident related to someone named Agnus are you?" Nero asked with barely suppressed anger, earning himself a surprised look from Minaka. "Because if you are, you would know what happened to the last person who thought he could create an era of gods. I don't know how you started all this, but don't give a damn about your little idea and I am not going to compete just because you decided that I should. As soon as I am done, I will leave and if Akitsu wants she will accompany me. I warn you once, if you try to stop me you will regret it." He snarled at him, what only earned him another laugh from his caller.

"Ah, I fear you are the one who doesn't understand the situation. This city belongs to the MBI now and thus my word is nearly equal to the law. That means if I say no one involved leaves the city, this will happen. The controls will take care of it, especially if you want to leave. Your temper and unique abilities will be an interesting factor. I look forward to see how it will play out. Farewell." And with this Minaka ended the call, leaving a fuming Nero behind. Turning around to talk to Akitsu, who had been silent for the entire conversation, he wanted to ask her about all the things he just heard. But before he could get his first sentence out, his jaw dropped.

The other part of the package was clothing, but definitely not what he had expected. Akitsu was now wearing clothing that mostly resembled a white kimono, with the massive difference that the area around her shoulders was cut back, now starting a bit behind her collarbones. The most outstanding change was the V-cut in the middle of it which presented a generous amount of her cleavage. The whole clothing was hold by a few chains, one which connected the shoulders together above her breasts, with three lines parting from it. One of it went between her breasts, ending in her obi, whilst the two went up and looped around her neck.

Akitsu looked at Nero, waiting for his reaction, whilst he tried to reassemble his thoughts and get them back to the topic he wanted to talk about in the first place. Needless to say that he wasn't really successful right now since his brain was rebooting due to the sights in front of him. _'I knew that she was good-looking, but that is just… wow. Okay change of thoughts, get it together and don't say something stupid.'_

"You don't have to wear that." He said, before he could effectively think. _'Very smooth, very smooth.'_

"Don't I look appealing to you?" She asked, her voice being laced with a bit of honest curiosity.

"No, no that is not it, actually it looks very good. I just meant that you don't have to do that for me, that's it." He quickly retorted, kicking himself inwardly for his stupid reaction. To his luck Akitsu didn't care about is reaction and just staid the way she was, with his clothes already being back in is bag. Meanwhile Nero was clearing his mind, thinking about the next step he, or better they should take.

' _I better inform Lady about that, I guess she can at least keep her eyes open and help me shed some light in this situation. And maybe she has a bit more knowledge what I kind of demon I am actually hunting.'_ His thoughts suddenly stopped when he noticed one important thing. He didn't provide an actual explanation for his arm and his powers to his newfound companion.

' _Guess that is the first thing I do now.'_ And with these thoughts he prepared himself for the talk, steeling himself inwardly against her reactions.

* * *

"…And this is how I actually ended here and why my arm looks like it does. I just mean I am not exactly human either, that's why I have problems with people who try to take over the world with otherworldly powers." Nero finished, after explaining his whole situation, waiting for a reaction from Akitsu, who just looked at him blankly the whole time. After this there was a short amount of silence, whilst Akitsu was processing everything, which made Nero somewhat nervous. Her response surprised him totally.

"Shouldn't you call your friend then? She can't contact you, right?" Akitsu asked him with a serene look in her eyes, stopping his train of thoughts the second time today. "You aren't surprised? Not scared or disgusted by the fact that you connected yourself to a devil?" He asked her with an incredulous look in his eyes, still trying to grasp how easily she accepted all the facts.

"You are my destined one. It doesn't matter who or what you are as long as I am bonded to you, I am fortunate. I had no one and now I have a caring Ashikabi." Akitsu explained, not once breaking eye contact with him. _'Looks like I am really lucky today. Let's hope my streak continues with Lady.'_ Grabbing his new device, Nero quickly found out that it also could work just like a normal cell phone. As he sat back down on the armchair he directly dialed the number of the bureau and got a nearly immediate response.

"Devil May Cry."

"Lady it's me, Nero. I think I have a few explanations for the activities around the city. Although it will take some time to explain everything." Waiting for her reaction.

"I hope they are good and explain why I couldn't contact you last night and also why you are calling from an unknown number. Besides I have a bit more precise information myself."

"Well it is just like that it is not only possible that most of the damage was eventually done by aliens, it is a fact. Those persons I saw earlier that day were some of those aliens and there are 108 of them in the city. Also the explanations of wagtails make some sense, because they are called Sekirei. They are connected to the MBI, because they released them. And they bond themselves to people, which is called winging. And they fight in some kind of battle royal." He paused his explanation, to give Lady some time to process everything he just said. _'I hope she doesn't try to put me in a loony bin.'_

"Okay, that is pretty interesting for now and makes a bit sense with what I got told. Now just tell me how in all seven hells you got all that information _."_ She asked, sounding completely calm. _'A bit to calm for my taste._ ' It was the 'I will just increase your debt tenfold and kick you in the balls' calmness she normally had reserved for Dante if he did something extreme stupid.

"I met some of them personally and fought two of them. Plus, I bonded myself to one of them, had a conversation with the CEO of the company and he knows of my arm. And I kinda crashed my phone last night and got this one this morning from him." He just went to all this information extremely fast, waiting for Lady to explode.

"So you want to tell me that you just found out that there are really aliens." Lady started, already sounding annoyed. "You had a fight with those aliens." Nero could hear her getting angrier. "You are now bound to one of those aliens." Nero swore he could hear a vein pop on her head. "And you are a part of a game from the owner of not only an enormous medical company, but all Tokyo. And he knows about you?!" She brought out and he noticed the cracking sound, which let Nero think that **she** maybe cracks her phone now. Akitsu just sat herself on the armchair and looked at the situation and Nero, her head resting on his shoulder.

Contrary to his thoughts, he just heard a sigh on the other end. "This is just another proof that Dante is definitely your uncle. Guess it can't be changed now though. Anyways the main reason I called is, that our client told me a bit more about the locations. According to him, the damage he first noticed was in the North. It is also the place with the most destruction. See what you can find there. And. Don't. Make. It. More. Complicated. We will have a serious talk about this when you are back." With this last statement ,she cut the communication. Nero exhaled heavily, not even noticing that he held his breath.

"Okay. Akitsu, I have to check out the north of the city. Do you want to accompany me?" After seeing her nod and standing up, he grasped his sling and put it back on. "I just have to find a decent clothing store to get me some gloves." He said, as he packed his bag with weapons and slung it over his shoulders.

* * *

MBI Headquarter

Shortly after his conversation with Nero, Minaka stepped back from the flat screen he used for those calls and returned to his desk. After sitting himself down, he pushed a button on the phone on his table. "Call Natsuo and tell him to get the Disciplinary Squad ready. I think I want a more personal talk with our new friend." He said, ending the call with a maniacal laughter which earned him a hard slap with a clipboard to the back of the head. Holding his now hurting backside of his head, he adjusted his glasses. "Ah Takami that hurt." He cried out, but earned himself only a sharp glare.

"Do you really think that is a good idea? You have no idea what he is and what his power limit is. And then you want to send Karasuba after him? This is nearly predestined to end in a bloodshed." She told him angrily, smacking him again with her clipboard and gained another yelp from him. "The fact that his limits are unknown to us makes him so interesting. He could be able to ascend into our new era even without a Sekirei. Imagine what could happen if his powers could be recreated. Think of the possibilities this would bring." He told Takami, getting more and more obsessed with his ideas.

"But getting back to your point, I don't want to send Karasuba after him, I wanted to use the whole Squad. They need a bit outside work after all. Things have been to calm for them."

Before she could start to beat him to a pulp with her trusty clipboard, the elevator doors opened and a young, brown-haired man in a suit stepped out of it. "You called for me?" He asked looking at the CEO, whom he unknowingly saved from a lot of pain. "Indeed I did. Please take a seat." He told Natsuo. Meanwhile Takami left the room to get back to the lab, but not without shooting Minaka a nasty glare, showing him that this situation wasn't over.

After Natsuo sat down Minaka immediately started to explain his plan. "First things first my dear friend. Is the Disciplinary Squad ready for work?"

"Definitely. To be honest, I think they are getting a bit antsy, especially Karasuba. Haihane and Benitsubasa are bickering quite a bit. Karasuba is very quiet, but that worries me the most. I think something to do to distract them would be welcome. Considering your question, I assume you have something to do for them?" He ended his answer, waiting for a reply.

"Indeed I do." He answered and with this he showed him the same recording Matsu used earlier that night to present Miya evidence of Nero's existence. To his big surprise, Natsuo didn't even flinch as he saw the whole recording. After the clip ended, he simply looked up at Minaka. "I will get them ready immediately." He said, rising up from his chair and walking to the elevator. Before he could enter it the MBI CEO called something after him. "Just one information. I want him alive."

"That could be difficult if you let Karasuba of the leash."

"I never said he has to be in one piece." And after hearing this last words, Natsuo entered the elevator to meet and brief the new Disciplinary Squad.

* * *

A bit lower in the tower, in some room that had similarities to a living room, the three members of mentioned Disciplinary Squad were waiting and trying to get rid of the boredom in different ways.

Right now the situation displayed in front of Natsuo consisted out of a pink-haired girl in a black kimono-like shirt and short black shorts, choking the life out of a grey-haired one, who still was chuckling about her previous comparison between her assailants chest and a washboard. The fact that she wore bandages all around her body, beneath her tattered dark kimono, didn't help to make the situation look any better. Sitting near the small fight was an also grey-haired female, clad in a leather top, a miniskirt and stockings, all of them coloured black, beneath a grey Haori. She just examined her sword lazily, completely ignoring the other two.

Unlike the other two in the room she directly noticed Natsuo, but didn't do anything to stop the fight in front of her and just looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Karasuba, get Benitsubasa off of Haihane, the Disciplinary Squad just got a new mission." With a grin slowly spreading over her face, she stood up and walked over to her still fighting companions, raising her sword and whacking them both with the handle. Benitsubasa immediately let go of Haihane and turned around to Karasuba.

"What the hell is your problem now?!" She shouted at her, but before she could continue her angry rant, Haihane noticed Natsuo standing in the room, looking at her and Benitsubasa pretty annoyed and elbowed her in the side and pointed at Natsuo. This effectively shout her up. After a brief silence, Natsuo started talking.

"Get ready to move out, our CEO has an important job for us. I will tell you everything on the way."

* * *

After he found a store in the main street and got a good pair of black leather gloves. He already got more than a few looks due to Akitsu's appearance and wanted to get rid of the sling, which made him look even more outstanding. He also found a few new items he deemed helpful.

On his trip through the city he stopped in a side alley and threw the PDA in a trash can, earning himself a raised eyebrow. "I don't want this guy to track me or something, I can't risk him following me on my job." He explained his action, as he pulled out a phone he just bought out of his pocket. He still needed to contact Lady after all. He discarded his sling, putting his gloves on and continued the trip to the northern district. "We should find a different place to stay, I can live without such surprises like this morning."

After a short while Nero stopped abruptly and turned around to Akitsu, who was staring at the rooftops near them. "Ah Nero, there is somebody on the roof over there. A Sekirei." She told him as she moved forward, before Nero put a hand on her shoulder. "We should avoid confrontations as much as possible. The less our involvement in this game is, the better." Although a bit hesitantly Akitsu stopped, dismissing the icicle she already had summoned and just shot a last cold glare in the direction of the roof before she looked back at Nero, her cold stare turning into a smile and turned around to follow him. _'Still a little problem that I can't sense anything now with Akitsu near me.'_ He thought to himself after also looking at the roof one last time.

On said rooftop sat dark-skinned, black-haired female, clad in black, with jet-black hair. _'This could have ended pretty ugly if her Ashikabi didn't stop her. I can't continue trailing them through the Northern District, guess this has to be enough for Higa.'_ She thought to herself, observing the two retreating figures of Nero and Akitsu, whilst playing with a curved dagger.

* * *

Exiting the Metro at the Northern Station, Nero and Akitsu instantly searched for some kind of road map at the station. He got the address from Lady, but noticed on the train that he hadn't any way to find said place. After asking some elderly man for the direction to the places, which were spread all over the district, he headed for the nearest one in the hope of finding some kind of trace. Luckily he was rewarded.

"Well if this isn't a place of a demon meeting, I don't know what it could be." Nero said to Akitsu, whilst pointing to the remains of burlap sacks, scythe-like blades and wooden legs. "Somebody or something really gave them hell. With a damn sharp weapon also, if you look at the cuts in the wall." He mentioned, looking at the really thin and deep cuts that were visible all over the place. "I definitely don't want to be at the receiving end of this blade. Do you think another Sekirei has something to do with this? Like our common friend from the park?"

"There are not many that use blades and I couldn't think of any blade that would be that sharp. Mutsu himself often uses it for his earth-abilities than actually cutting something."

"Guess we have to go to our last trace." He said as both of them turned, with Akitsu interweaving her arm with his, and left the slashed-up alleyway. Using the time, Akitsu decided to ask Nero more about the situations. Right now he was explaining the Scarecrows to her. "They are technically only sacks full of beetles. Pretty annoying but only dangerous when they appear in larger groups. If you destroy the hull, they essentially are done. Not that you should have too much problems with that." He ended his explanation, revering to her display with her sharp icicles during their first meeting. "Hey you alright there, you look a bit spaced out." Nero told her, as he stopped and waited for a reaction.

"It is very empty here, don't you think?" She answered when she looked back at him and raised an eye questioningly, whilst she continued to walk. Although before Nero could react to her, in the afterthought obvious, observation, it seemed that the empty district decided to react to this comment, by letting someone walk past them on the other side of the sidewalk carrying her bag of groceries. Oddly to Nero she had purple hair, although he ignored that thought quickly and continued walking. _'I'm not really in the position to talk about unusual hair colours, considering that white runs in my family.'_

Unbeknownst to him, Miya recognized his face, directly thinking about getting her blade to follow this new intruder in the north. Before she could follow this thought, she noticed something else. Something, or better some _body,_ who held a higher place on the list of things she didn't want near _her_ area . _'This first, I will find him later.'_

* * *

At the Rooftops near the Northern District

"How nice of you to show up, I thought that I would have to put up show for you. How is our dear redheaded thieving friend and our rejected drunkard? Still not behaving?" Karasuba welcomed Miya, casually sitting on a rooftop and looking over the city, as if she just met her best friend again. But that whole appearance was as a pure façade, it was her cold look and her vicious grip on her Nodachi that gave her true intentions away.

"I thought I told you to don't dare to show up in the north, do I really have to repeat myself for you Karasuba? Do you really want to decide this here?" Miya flat out stated, her voice empty of any emotion and equally cold as her glare. Seeing that Karasuba raised herself, she also laid a hand at her blade, offering a silent challenge. For a short moment it looked like Karasuba really thought about accepting it, before she let go of her blade.

"I don't understand why you are so angry with me, I mean I am not even near your beloved inn. Besides there is already someone else on my list and I don't want to miss my chance like I thought I did all those years ago." She said, turning around to the city and actually looking like she had some kind of melancholy mind-set for a split-second, before turning back around with smirk directed at Miya. "Although I think we both know why I'm around the block. It's not like Matsu would ignore something like that. Guess we will have to meet a bit later again don't you think? Maybe we could get some tea and talk about our…" Before she could finish her attempt at testing how far she could get with Miya, who scarily started smiling, both Sekirei got distracted by a bright greenish-blue flash near an abandoned building. Instantly heading in that direction, Miya just stared back at Karasuba once more with a cold, deadly look. "Don't push your luck No. 4" Those were her last words, before she jumped of the roof and left a smirking Karasuba behind.

* * *

A short time earlier at an empty warehouse

"That was much easier than expected." Nero commented, referring to the little amount of resistance that was offered as Akitsu and him entered the area. Only greeted by a few Scarecrows he didn't even deemed them important enough to pull out his beloved sword and just smashed them into each other.

"Excellent work by the way, most people react much more surprised if they meet their first demon." He said to Akitsu, who by herself decided to nail everything near hear with icicles. Which was sadly, of course only for the Scarecrows, pretty efficient against filled cloth creatures. Raising her head and stopping her inspection of the content in her fallen enemies, she smiled at him, obviously happy with the praise she got.

"They weren't as dangerous as I thought demons should be. They were an annoyance at best." She told him, walking over to him. "Yeah, sadly not all of them are that weak. But anyway, if the info is correct there is most likely a portal around. They mostly look like a standing rectangular with a fluorescent rift."

"You mean like this?" Akitsu called from a bit farther in the hall. She used the time he talked to venture a bit forth and felt herself drawn to the gate, for reasons she couldn't explain. ' _Alright that was fast.'_ Nero thought to himself, as he walked up to her and placed his Devil Bringer on it and transferred a bit of his energy in it to close the rift, resulting in a short green flash of light. "Yeah exactly, although it is pretty small. That would explain the lack of demons. But that couldn't have been the only one, that would have been to… easy… for...this… job." He said in the moment he turned around and saw the next group of demons

' _Well fuck. Me and my big mouth'_ He thought watching his new companions. Two of them remembered him of his classical friends from the frozen castle, both still frozen in an encasing, but still showing their lizard-like bodies. What worried him the most was their big companion. It looked like a crossover between a minotaur and a crocodile, displaying a scorpion stinger, which was dripping with poison, just like his claws. The problem was the fact that it was twice as tall as Nero and just as thick. Screaming a loud challenge into the empty storehouse, Nero all but ripped his bag apart, retrieving his battle gear. Ramming his sword into the ground, directly using his Exceed system to set the blade on fire.

Breaking the stand-off one of the Frosts threw his icicles at Nero, only to see them destroyed by exactly the same projectiles and to his bigger surprise found himself at the receiving end of Akitsu's ice. Trying to use this distraction, Nero sprinted at the second one, only to be intercepted by a stinger that was aimed at his head. Dodging with a side roll, he swung his blade at the offending appendage, smashing it out of his way and bringing his wielder out of balance, courtesy of the erupting flames of his blade. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Akitsu fighting the first Frost to a standstill due to their similar powers as the second one hit her shoulder. Trying to help her, Nero used his momentum to pull it off balance with his spectral arm and shot his whole magazine at it, blasting some chunks out of the frozen body and knocked it down.

Sadly, he didn't notice that his first enemy recovered much faster than he thought and struck him across his back with a claw, before he sent him flying with a sting in the spine, sending a burning sensation of pain through him. Luckily he was caught by Akitsu, who directly ignored her enemy to catch him mid-flight and stop their movement. Looking around, seeing that they were in the middle of them, Nero decided to take some more extreme actions. "Guess I have to use it now." He said more to himself than Akitsu. Focusing his energy, he got ready to pull Yamato, but before he could finish it Akitsu did something he didn't expected. In the midst of the battle she decided to kiss him, creating the same blue wings he saw the last evening, before she broke of the kiss and looked at the giant lizard-scorpion hybrid.

"This is the ice of my pledge. Shatter the misfortunes of my Ashikabi!" She called out in a voice that somehow reminded him of a prayer, which, to his giant surprise, was followed by an ice storm that all but obliterated the creature staring at them. The same moment he himself felt a comparable reaction, somehow launching a summoned sword instead of the gun shot he intended to use, at one Frost without even activating his Devil Trigger like he planned to do in the beginning.

Seeing the third and last demon trying to escape, he wanted to sprint after it, but before he could reach it he saw it stumbling and fall apart in two clean halves, revealing the reason two be a purple-haired woman, wielding a katana and focusing Nero with the same look she gave the demon earlier.

The moment Miya saw that the reason for this chaos was the new Ashikabi, she all but tightened her grip around her blade, before she focused him with the same cold glare she normally reserved for her worst enemies. To his credit she noticed that he didn't back up like she was used from everyone who found himself on the receiving end, but hardened his own posture and prepared himself for another fight. _'I don't think that he will able to do much now, but he still deserves respect and caution'_ She thought to herself and decided to find out what he had to do with all this. Before she could demand an explanation, he himself took a few cautious steps forward, the veins in his paled face clearly visible and his right arm slightly glowing initiating the conversation. "I don't know who you are and I think I owe you thanks for killing this Frost, but if you try to threaten us, this will…" But before he could finish what would become of 'this', his eyes turned upwards, he collapsed to his knees before he landed on his face, whilst the wounds on his back started to emanate a bilious green vapor.

 **And cut. Follows, Favourites and Reviews are always appreciated and my utmost thanks to all those who already did one of the mentioned thing.**

 **Also I am a bit curious if some of you will recognize the person Karasuba was referring to.**

 **Well, no matter what have a Happy New Year**

 **Rac95 out**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, this took more time than I wanted to. I wish I had a good excuse, but I don't. Thanks to everyone who still started to follow, favorite and review this story. I really, really appreciate that.**

 **Now enough from me, lets continue the story.**

 **Disclaimer: Not mine and it will never be**

Devilbirds 3

Humming to herself, Karasuba lazily walked through the MBI tower towards one of the conference rooms, enjoying the fearful looks of the workers who scurried out of her way. Reciting the earlier meeting with her former comrade-in-arms, she still took pride and pleasure in the fact that she still could get under Miya's skin easily. ' _Only hunting strays out there is more fulfilling.'_ She thought to herself as she approached the door of the conference room she was called to. _'Let's hope they have something to kill for me.'_ With this, Karasuba ended her train of thought and looked at the two persons who called her.

Natsuo, the newly appointed leader of the Disciplinary Squad, stopped his conversation with the MBI head researcher Sahashi Takami. Putting the clipboard down on the table, Sahashi looked at Karasuba, who was still standing in the doorframe and gestured for her to sit.

"Let's cut to the chase. We all knew you were in the Northern district. The same district you're not allowed to enter. Yet you were up and ready to do so and could have caused a goddamn war with your stupid wish to rile up Miya." Takami said angrily as she fixated Karasuba, who showed no response to it.

With a sigh, Takami continued. "Well, if I had a word in it, I wouldn't send you out again, but Minaka obviously trusts your abilitites. Now for the main reason of this meeting. As you know and actually saw, there was some kind of strange event in the North. Albeit briefly, the science team managed to get a read of the energy and it is something completely alien to them. Needless to say that the CEO is interested in it and made this your new job. Natsuo here will fill you in on the details." And with that she left the room in the direction of her office.

Looking at her, Natsuo pulled out a device that somehow looked like an oversized wristwatch and placed it on the table between them. Looking at it and picking it up to examine it more closely, Karasuba finally asked her question. "Is this thing supposed to help us analyse this new effect or what?"

"No, they have a program running on one their servers downstairs to track those energies and guide us to those places. This is for Benitsubasa, Haihane and you. It is a neuro-inhibitor, designed to prevent you from being winged, whilst still giving you the ability to use your Norito if necessary. Since it is not known what exactly is responsible for those outbursts, or how powerful anything related with it is, this was meant as a safety measure." He explained to Karasuba, before he checked a few things on his PDA.

"So now you're not only our leader, but also some kind of field commander?" She asked a bit annoyed with that revelation, as she strapped the device to her wrist before flexing her hand.

"It is more some kind of security measure to be prepared for everything that could await us." Hearing a few short beeps from his PDA, he quickly grabbed it and read the message he received. Looking up at Karasuba, he continued. "We got the first location from the science division. It is in an outskirt near a construction site. Let's pick up your comrades and get there as fast as possible."

* * *

 _It was empty, like most of time in the early morning. But it was too quiet, even for this time. The eerie silence unnerved him, keeping him toiled like a spring, always ready, always waiting. Standing on the long, paved street, Nero turned around to walk towards the cathedral, still not 100% what was happening. For some odd reasons though he couldn't move, he was stuck. As he cursed the situation, he saw a person clad in a ragged gray cloth with the hood over his head walking straight at him and to his surprise right through him!_

" _The Order of the Sword, huh…" The man said to himself, looking at the cathedral in the distance, revealing the side of a pale veiny face. "They worship a demon as a god? Just what are their true intentions?" He said continuing his way down the street, past the people who were seen in the distance, gathering the surprised and interested look of one of them._

 _Nero watched all this from his spot, unable to move or talk. Suddenly the scenery changed, memory fragments from his childhood, his youth in the Order up to recent events flashed through his mind, changed faster and faster until he felt like he couldn't handle it anymore. The last thing he saw was the purple-clad back of a person, the grey cloth flying away from him, before it ended in a flash._

* * *

Slowly regaining consciousness, Nero opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed was the fact that he was bandaged and laying down in a bed. Raising himself up, he winced slightly at the dull pain he felt in his spine. _'Guess Akitsu managed to get me back.'_ Nero thought, before it hit him. He was laying on a futon in an unknown room and she wasn't around! Cursing loudly, he jumped to his feet, only to get hit by a wave of nausea and a sting of pain from his wound, which sent him nearly back down. Before he could hit the floor though, he was caught by Akitsu who felt his awakening.

"You're awake. I was worried that you may not stand up at all." Akitsu stated, whilst helping him to sit down to gather himself. Instantly three important question manifested themselves in head.

"Are you alright?" Was the first question he instantly asked and followed up with the other two questions, namely "Where are we?" and "How long was I knocked out?". Breathing in deeply to calm himself, he awaited the answers.

"It was two days ago, that you were wounded. Seeing you wounded, she offered me to bring you here. I was waiting for you to wake up, just like she did. She wanted to talk to you." She said, still studying his posture to be able to help him if he needed it. He felt that there was something else to this situation, but choose to ignore it for the matters at hand.

"Say Akitsu, where are my clothes and my equipment?" He asked whilst looking around for his clothes which, except for his jeans, were missing. "They were thrown away, the acid of the wound continued to destroy it. She put something over there you can wear." She said, pointing at a chair in the corner of the room on which he found a button-down shirt to replace his own. After putting it on, he still waited for the second answer. She looked at him uneasy before she continued. "They were taken when you've been brought here. She stashed them away in a bag to hide them. I didn't want to question her actions, not with you being as injured as you were."

"Well, at least I still have my arm attached to me." He answered lightly, tilting his head slightly in the hope to calm the unease he could feel from Akitsu. "No, seriously. We both saw how easily she destroyed the Frost and I wouldn't want you to fight in such a situation. We'll get it back sooner or later. But now it is time to talk to my savior then. It would be rude to let her wait." Nero stated as he dressed himself. ' _Goddamn, I am still a bit stiff in the shoulders. I hope this really just stays a conversation'_ He thought to himself, putting on a straight face to not worry his companion before he headed for the stairs.

* * *

Waiting downstairs at the kitchen table with a cup of tea in front of her and her sword leaning on a nearby wall Miya recapitulated the events of the last weeks. _'First I have the son of Minaka crashing in my garden and let him and his Sekirei become a guest at my inn, then those creatures appear all over Shinto Teito and on top of that Karasuba shows up in_ _ **my**_ _district just to provoke me and gives me ominous talks! All of it after he was seen here first. I hope he has a good explanation for this.'_

Calming herself down again, she noticed that Kagari was slowly backing out of the kitchen. She hadn't even noticed that her beloved threat had appeared behind her to scare her tenant.

"This has nothing to do with you." She tried to reassure him/her (Miya noticed the small changes and wondered, if Kagari had noticed it too) and was kind of happy when Kagari relaxed a bit, only to tense up again when he heard the steps and conversation of the two new, maybe temporary, guests from the stairs.

Bracing herself for her, partially unwanted, guests, Miya stood up to face them eye to eye and still faltered slightly as Nero entered the room. She knew what she gave him, but seeing him wearing in the provided clothes of her late husband still sent a feeling of melancholy through her.

"Please, take a seat. I guess there is much you two have to explain, isn't it?" Miya told both Nero and Akitsu, whilst gesturing at the table.

* * *

"So, did anything happened during the two days I was out?" Nero asked Akitsu as they walked down the stairs, absently tugging at the arms of the suit to hide as much of his Devil Bringer.

"No. She offered a place to recover and allowed me to use a few of her supplies to help you, although your body did the most work. I haven't left the room often enough to see if there was anything special." Akitsu stated, still standing right behind to be able to support Nero if necessary.

"Well, then let's see what's waiting for us." Nero stated, before he walked down the last steps of the stairs. Seeing the kitchen/living room combination in front of him, he directly noticed a few things. The table prepared for three, his mysterious purple-haired savior, who showed some change of her calm mask for a split-second, before she returned to her normal expression.

What worried him the most was the sword that leaned right near her against the wall. ' _One hand in friendship and the other one at the weapon? Let's hope I don't have to draw Yamato in here, could get pretty ugly pretty fast if I do.'_

After both Nero and Miya sized each other up for a short moment, Miya decided to speak up.

"Please, take a seat. I guess there is much you two have to explain, isn't it?"

Seeing no reason to disobey, Nero just pulled a chair back for Akitsu before taking his own seat.

"So, I see you have recovered from your injuries. It is quite impressive you did it so fast, they looked severe." Miya casually said, wishing to start the conversation lightly, also to gauge the reactions of her 'guest'.

"Well, it probably wouldn't have gone that fast if you hadn't offered us hospitality. I am pretty thankful for it, so if there is anything I could do to repay you, just ask." Nero answered, since he knew that this would be become an 'interrogation' sooner or later. _'Just play cooperative in the beginning, I can still make myself enemies afterwards.'_ He mused.

Deciding to direct her questions a bit more directly, Miya asked the first important thing she wanted to know. "For starters, what were you doing in there?"

"Business." Was Nero's short answer, just to see how far he could push it with indifference. He was surprised, because Miya wasn't getting annoyed, or showed any other reaction, but a friendly smile, which gave him the feeling that the whole atmosphere just got a bit more serious and sent a electric tingle down his back and right into his right arm.

"Well," Miya started, smiling just a bit more, "you had an excellent timing then, since you arrived just in time to experience everything your ' _friends_ ' did firsthand." She slowly said, her voice gaining a subtle, but steely composure.

"First of all, those demons are not my ' _friends'_ , but my paycheck. Second, they arrived neither **with** nor **for** me. It is exactly the other way round. I am here because they are." He answered and looked straight at Miya, waiting for a reaction.

"Frankly, we both know you killed some of them before you met me. I looked at a few places here and I bet that the cut marks I saw in the walls and the pavement are exactly as thick as your blade over there." With this, he nodded at the sword near her.

"Maybe I should have formulated my question differently. Those _things_ are not natural, they normally don't exist here in Shinto Teito. You are obviously no normal human either, but seem to react to them. So **what** are you?" Miya all but demanded to know, her hand inching slowly in the direction of her sword.

"You are right, I am not human. At least not 100 %, but frankly no one in this room is." Nero started his explanation, expecting a reaction to the revelation of his knowledge about Miya's heritage. To his surprise, her expression did not change at all, before he continued. "The biggest difference is that you are completely from outer space, whilst I am only partly from down under." He finished crossing his arms, awaiting an answer from her.

"It is right that you fought against these things and not for them, otherwise I wouldn't even have thought about letting you rest here. However, that does not change the fact of what you are and how you even came to existence. And it especially doesn't explain what the first part of your comment is supposed to tell me." Miya responded directly, slowly drawing the sheath near to her, letting it rest against in her left hand.

She could see Akitsu inching closer to Nero, unconsciously grabbing his arm under the table. She also saw how the jaw of her unknown guest clenched and that his whole body coiled up like a spring.

Instead of him jumping across the table something completely unexpected happened. For a short moment, she saw him losing control over his facial features, displaying surprise, pain, shock and confusion, following by a sudden convulsion that nearly sent him to the ground. Luckily for him Akitsu held him, before he could collapse completely.

It was only for a split-second during this moment that Miya believed that she saw a blue flash appearing in the room behind and around him. What confused her even more was not only the sudden spasm, but also the look he sent into the empty space, as if something else appeared in the hallway near him.

* * *

"However, that does not change the fact of what you are and how you even came to existence. And it especially doesn't explain what the first part of your comment is supposed to tell me." The moment he heard this words, Nero knew things could get very bad in a very short amount of time. Noticing how Akitsu suddenly held his left lower arm tight, he was not surprised that he could literally feel the wave of tension through the connection both of them shared.

' _So this is how it will go down. Well, let's get ready for a blast then'_ Nero thought to himself, as he saw Miya pull her sword closer. Focusing his mind to summon Yamato, he noticed the lack of that familiar feeling which preceded the appearance of his weapon.

' _What the...'_ Before he could continue, he felt a searing pain running through his arm, just like the moment when Sanctus pierced his arm with Yamato all these months ago, combined with a splitting headache and the short vision of a pair of glowing red eyes that seemed to stare into his soul. As soon as all of it started, it also ended, leaving him with a feeling of emptiness and confusion, before he suddenly felt as if all of his power was sapped out of him. Feeling himself stabilized by Akitsu's hold on him, Nero forced himself to sit straight again.

"It is gone. How can it be gone? Who could've taken it from there? I know it is out there I can feel it."

"What is gone Nero? What do you mean?" Akitsu suddenly asked, making Nero turn around and look in her worried eyes. At that moment he noticed, that he actually said the last words aloud. Ignoring Miya's questioning look, he focused his eyes on Akitsu to calm his mind before he spoke.

"I'll explain it later, right now we need to go. Wherever Yamato is, we need to get it back!" Raising up and spinning around to Miya, he addressed her next.

"My weapons, where are they? I need them now!" He anything but demanded from her with steely determination in his eyes. Now standing, Miya returned the look with an equal mindset, her hand on the hilt of her sword.

"You will not leave, until you explained yourself. Right. Now."

Staring at each other, with Miya displaying her miasma, Nero focusing power into his Devil Bringer, giving it an ominous blue glow and Akitsu standing behind him, covering the whole area around her in a thin layer of ice, the situation looked like it stood on the brink of a violent escalation. The sound of a door opening and closing again shattered the tense silence.

"Miya, Musubi and I are back with the groceries you asked us to fetch, where do you want us to put them?" Upon hearing the voice, Miya turned around in a split-second, placing her sword out of sight, but still near enough to grab it in an instance, should the need arise.

' _Well I'll be damned, this is the voice of the guy I ran into a few days ago. And he has company.'_ Nero thought as he looked at the two persons entering the room, who unknowingly defused the situation, or at least forced both sides into a short truce. Seeing him enter the room in the company of the same girl who nearly flattened him, Nero quickly depowered his Devil Bringer and hid it behind his back, whilst gesturing to Akitsu to unfreeze the area around her before the new player in the kitchen could take notice. It luckily worked out, although only because the bags he carried blocked his view.

"Just place it on the countertop please." Miya answered smiling, managing to completely change her mood in no time at all.

"Ok, will do. Musubi, could you place the rest of the bags here to?" He asked his companion, who immediately turned around around.

"Of course Minato, shall I put them at the same place?" Musubi asked, as she entered the room with a second collection of grocery bags that was nearly higher than she was. After affirming this, the now dubbed Minato turned around and noticed Nero and Akitsu for the first time. Instantly recognizing Nero as the person he literally had a run in, he nervously scratched his head, before he addressed him.

"Ahh, I didn't think we meet again after our first encounter. I am still sorry for that, is your arm alright?" He asked sheepishly, completely oblivious to the cold glare Akitsu focused Musubi with and the fact that Musubi got jittery due to her excitement.

Seeing that he still was uncomfortable with the situation, Nero decided once again brush it off. "Its fine, I told you it wasn't anything problematic. My arm is nearly completely healed anyway, I was just on a way for a check-up." He smoothly lied, to find an excuse for not wearing his sling.

Seeing him relax a bit, Nero decided to continue this conversation as an excuse to defuse the tense situation he found himself in. "My way name is Nero by the way, this is Akitsu." He told him, gesturing at her. For a short moment, Akitsu was surprised by this open introduction, but decided to trust her Ashikabi and kept focusing on the opposing Sekirei instead.

"I am Minato, Minato Sahashi." He answered, directly, as he started to unpack the bags on the countertop. "I am Musubi, Seki…" Before she could finish her sentence though, Minato managed to poke her in the ribs to prevent her from spilling her 'secret', not knowing that Nero was already aware of it.

"So, do you want to move in the Inn?" Minato asked, trying to divert his short action. "It would be a good choice. Miya keeps this place always calm and organized and the other tenants are very friendly too." He continued with a slightly uneasy smile.

"Oh my, you are quite a flatterer here Minato. All this compliments are very nice of you." Miya intercepted before he could continue to ramble and turned back to look at Nero again.

Unbeknownst to her, Nero had a, in his opinion, brilliant plan. "Actually yes, I was thinking about it, since I need a place here in the city soon, since I've rented my actual place for only a short time." He answered with a wide smile. "Speaking of which, I need to go back to get a few things I forgot to pack. Do you know where I placed my bag earlier?" He asked.

Seeing that she was losing the pressure she had earlier on him, Miya knew she had lost this round.

"It is in the floor, besides the stairs." She answered with concealed anger that only Nero could detect and continued to play the role of the landlady who talked to a possibly new tenant.

"Thanks. I will come again later after all is done. Until then have a nice day." He replied, complimenting himself for his quick thinking. "See you soon then." He called to Minato, as he and Akitsu walked to the door and finally leaving the inn, escaping the standoff he was caught inn.

' _This isn't the end'_ Both Miya and Nero thought at the same time. Watching after him Miya continued her train of thoughts though. _'Let's hope Matsu managed to put a tracker on his system.'_ Were her last thoughts as she watched him leaving the street, before she headed upwards to the secret room with her redheaded helper.

* * *

"That was something else." Nero started the conversation, as he and Akitsu walked out of the Northern district. "This would probably have gone bad, if Minato hasn't appeared." He continued.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything." Akitsu answered, looking crestfallen.

"Don't say that. You were directly ready to fight, despite seeing what she was capable of. That isn't a small feat." Nero answered at her statement, trying to somewhat cheer her up. Looking at him with her eyes gaining a steely determination she responded. "You are my Ashikabi. You were the one who gave my life a meaning again. I was yours, even before I was winged."

Surprised by the determination behind this statement, Nero decided to not insist to tell her to stop referring to herself as if she was his servant or anything. Walking besides each other in silence after her declaration, Nero mulled a bit more about the appearance of the devil gate in the city. Arriving in his hotel and quickly entering his room, Nero quickly stripped out of the clothes from Miya he still wore and grabbed his other outfit, a red shirt with a blue coat. _'Got to get them somehow back to her soon.'_ He thought.

Feeling Akitsu looking at him constantly Nero turned around to face Akitsu, seeing the questioning look in her eyes.

"Can you tell me now what you meant as you said that 'It is gone'?" She asked with a look her eyes showing a mixture of confusion and expectation. Knowing that it would take some time, Nero sat down on the bed, gesturing for Akitsu to do the same.

"I have to start a bit earlier in family history to explain it properly, so it may take a while." He started, focusing himself to recite everything Dante and Trish told him after he started working with them. "My grandfather was a rather strong demon with the name of Sparda, who rebelled against his brethren to protect the humans. A reason for it could have been that he married a human woman, who gave birth to his two sons. Before he left, I don't know exactly where, he bequeathed two of his swords to his children. One of it was Yamato, a blade powerful enough to even cut through the space. My father was the one who inherited it."

Breathing in deeply, Nero continued with the part of his history he wasn't proud of. "Unlike his brother, my father sought power at all costs, even going as far as purely embracing his demonic powers, being ready to leave just destruction in his wake. With the goal to stop him Dante fought him, killing him and shattering his sword. It was lost afterwards, only to be found by me in an underground laboratory, with my powers somehow reactivating it and unlocking my true potential. In the beginning, Dante wanted to retrieve it from me, but in the end allowed me to keep it, I don't know exactly why. Maybe as a memento to a father I never knew or as a reminder of the blood in my veins. Since then I was always carrying it with me, until now. Fact is nobody should be able to get it from me, since it was technically sealed in me." Nero finished his story, leaving the room in silence.

"You said you could feel it, can't you find it right now?" Akitsu asked afterwards with a questioning look. "No mysteriously not." Standing up Nero continued. "But I am ready to bet dollars against dirt, that whoever opened those gates can give me an explanation, before I shove my hand up his ass and make him my sock puppet. But let's get a break first, I think it will be a long night." Nero finished and set his clock, before he laid back on the bed and closed his eyes. The last thing he felt was Akitsu curling up next to him as he drifted away.

* * *

Standing on slashed burlap sacks, Karasuba focused interested on the great green glowing rift she saw on the stonewall in an abandoned building in the city outskirts. It looked somewhat closed, the rift being covered with something that looked like a green spiderweb.

"So that's everything they sent us here for. A few peg-legged sackcloth creatures with old scythes and a glowing piece of wall. I expected a bit more if they sent us out here." Benitsubasa declared bored as she cleaned her gloves.

"No wonder you want more, you have to compensate for something have you?" Haihane snickered from behind her, still being covered in cloth from their enemies, which actually somehow fitted with the rest of her look.

Turning around with a red head and ready to attack her companion, Benitsubasa was interrupted by a cough from behind her that signaled Natsuos approach.

"Interesting." He said to himself, as he pulled out his phone and quick dialed the HQ. "Yes, this is Natsuo. Please tell Minaka that there is definitely something he would like to research here."

* * *

Rising up to smash his hand on his alarm clock, Nero groggily rubbed his eyes as he carefully moved out of Akitsus arms to make a short trip into the bathroom to splash himself with cold water.

"You have risen." He was greeted by Akitsu, who already looked ready to go. Looking at him a bit worried, she decided to speak her thoughts aloud now. "Are you really alright? You just woke up today again. I can't let something like that happen again again." Awaiting an answer, she focused his face.

"Don't worry, part of my heritage allows me to heal faster. If not I would probably still be laying somewhere unconscious. Right now that this is over, I am ready for action again." He reassured her with full confidence in his voice. Deciding to trust her Ashikabi, Akitsu dropped the topic.

Turning on the TV to get at least some information on all the things he missed the last days, he was presented with a picture that made him groan inwardly.

"Right now I am standing in front of the botanical garden were an anomaly occurred this evening. Somehow, the whole plant life in the park experienced a strong growth spurt, allowing no one to use the entrance to get inside. All attempts to cut the plants by the workers of the garden proved fruitless against this incredibly resilient plant life. On behalf of the MBI, the area around the park now gets restricted until they found a solution. We switch now a press conference from the MBI spokesman."

With a large picture of the garden that reminded Nero more of a jungle, a sadly very familiar jungle, the report ended and he turned the TV off. "Guess we have to hurry a bit, I know something that could cause a similar problem and this Echidna wasn't the nicest neighbour." Before he could continue his explanation, he was interrupted by the sound of his phone beeping, signaling a message.

' **Congratulations, to celebrate the near end of the first phase of the Sekirei plan, there will be a special event. Somewhere in the botanical garden is the unwinged "Green Girl". Who will be the first one to get her and her special powers? Good luck to all Ashikabi out there. Minaka Hiroto'**

Looking at the phone and the message, Nero angrily smashed his fist against the wall of his room. "Damn! Now we don't only have a demon in the park, but a whole collection of Sekirei who want to fight. We have to get in there before this She-Viper starts to use them as midnight snacks, even if I'd like to feed her that arrogant asshole we met. Dooming all his Sekirei just because they have an idiotic partner isn't the right way either. Let's hurry."

"Hay Nero." Akitsu called as she jumped out of the window and on the roofs to follow him.

* * *

 **In an underground laboratory. Location unknown  
**

"Sir, the MBI found one of our portals. We are starting to lose them in the South and North now." A worker in a long white coat called out as he approached the leader of the small group sitting behind his table in the dark room, which served as his bureau.

"Don't worry, Altus has enough resources to create more and more of them. The Order of the Sword may have failed in Fortuna, but the Dawn Cult will not repeat their mistakes. We will achieve what Sanctus dreamt of." Turning around, a man with long blonde hair, clad in white robes adorned with gold, looked at his messenger.

"Go to him, tell him that he should prepare the new warriors he created out of Agnus creations. Let those few who resist us, show how futile it is."

 **Hope all of you enjoyed it. I am still happy if you would take the time to follow, favorite and/or write a review**

 **Rac95 out**


	4. Chapter 4

**Devilbirds 4**

 **Hey, I wrote a bit more. Kinda surprised myself here. Anyway, I hope you like it and even if it is quite late now have a happy new year.**

 **Disclaimer: Neither game nor story are mine and will never be**

"Katsuragi, why do **we** have to patrol the whole area out here? It is not as if the whole action is in the garden right now. And I want to be there too." A girl with short blond hair, a black leather top and a fitting pair of panties exclaimed loudly, as she jumped over the rooftops through the city, impatiently looking for someone to vent her frustration on.

"Higa wants us to search for the few unwinged stragglers, this girl isn't the only one who is still unwinged and he wants as much as he can get. Therefore, we have to continue to be on the lookout Sai. Even if it isn't the most interesting thing to do, if it helps our Ashikabi it is worth it." Her brown-haired companion in her yellow jumpsuit answered.

"I know, but look around nothing is happening here." Sai continued to whine, only to be ignored by Katsuragi. After nearly another hour of fruitless searching on the city roofs, the two-girl team decided to rest on a nearby apartment complex, sitting down. Katsuragi sat down on the ledge to look over the illuminated city, whilst Sai still stood and looked around, more bored than anything else.

"When do we call it a day and return back Katsuragi? I don't think we will have much success tonight." She asked, only to notice that she was ignored again. Before Sai could grab Katsuragi by the shoulder and spin her around, Katsuragi gripped her, pulling her to the ledge and pointing over at a slightly higher roof.

Standing up there was a whitehaired person, clad in an expensive looking purple coat. Impressive was also the katana he wielded at his side in an elegant dark-blue sheath. Looking at him for a short time, Sai turned over to Katsuragi. "What are we waiting for? Let's get this unwinged one and return it to Higa." She exclaimed, barely keeping her voice down. Gaining a nod from Katsuragi, both of them silently jumped upwards.

Before any of them could start talking, the target already reacted to their presence. "I finally meet a few of the birds, only to have it to be weak ones. Where is the challenge in this city?" The mysterious one said in a smooth, dark voice, showing that he was male.

"You're better goddamn careful who you call weak, if you don't want to get an answer in form of a beating." Sai shoot back with nearly unrestricted anger. "If you were someone to fear, I would choose my words differently. But I have no reason to." Was the only answer.

Blinded by her rage, Sai unfurled the whip she carried, jumping at him to wrap it around his neck to choke him. To her surprise, she only met an empty spot. "What the?!" Was everything she could call out, before she suddenly felt a blinding pain in her chest and the sound of a sword being sheathed. Looking down, she saw a long cut, starting between her collarbones, travelling between her breasts and stopping at her waist. ' _How did he do that, I didn't even saw him move.'_ Were her last thoughts before she collapsed.

With this situation unfolding in front of her, Katsuragi ran to her companion and tried to kick her attacker in the back of the head to get him away from Sai. Before she could reach her, there was a purple clad coat in front of her and she felt the cold steel in her stomach. Looking upwards, she saw a glint of a yellow glow from the face above her, as the sword was pulled out of her stomach and she fell on the roof.

"I expected more, even from weaker ones like them." Vergil said silently to himself, as he left the place with a last disappointed look towards his victims. "At least Yamato hasn't lost his edge, even after my passing and the restoration. It seems he took good care of it." Vergil concluded the evaluation of his beloved blade, before he sheathed it and looked back over the city.

"Let us see what became out of my son in this time. I wonder if he has the power to compete with me, if he couldn't even keep the blade away from me. "

And with a silent laugh, he jumped off of the roof into the night.

* * *

At the other side of the city in the Izumo Inn, Minato was still lying awake and thought about his mysterious 'encounter' in the garden earlier at the day. _'Who was that girl and what did she meant with "Save me, onii-chan"?'_ Turning around in his bed, trying to not wake Musubi who was sleeping soundly beside him, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by his phone signalling a message.

Reading it, his face slowly went pale before he turned around to his sleeping companion. "Musubi, wake up. We need to go!" He called out whilst shaking her shoulder. Opening her eyes with a sleepy look, she obviously expected a reason for the pale and worried face her Ashikabi had. Before she could ask though, he started explaining.

"Musubi, we need to go to the botanical garden quickly. A Sekirei, a little one who called herself Kusano, is in there and presented just like a trophy. We have to go and help her quickly." He stated.

"So you made another one react? You really are a strong one." Musubi exclaimed, clapping her hands. "Don't worry, we will be there fast." She told him, as she picked Minato up and jumped out of the window and up on the roofs before he had a chance to yelp in surprise.

Unbeknownst to them both, Miya and Kazehana were watching the leaving forms of the newest tenants. After a short exchange of looks, Kazehana ran after them keeping out of sight and a watchful eye on them after everything that happened in the last time. Focusing on the slowly disappearing form of her former comrade from the Disciplinary Squad, Miya sighed silently, going back to sharpen her blade for the time to come.

* * *

Standing on a nearby rooftop, Nero observed the layout of the park in front of him with Akitsu at his side. "I can already feel unwanted company in there. Let's be careful, I don't know who or what we will find in there. I really don't want to uproot the whole garden, if not absolutely necessary." He commented from his lookout, checking Blue Roses cylinder, before he snapped her shut and placed her in his holster again.

"The trees on the side should provide enough cover to go in and find your enemies without being noticed." Akitsu mentioned to him, also observing the area in front. Nodding approvingly, Nero jumped upwards, landing on the wall with a graceful front flip and gestured her to follow.

* * *

Looking at the display in his laboratory, Atlus could do nothing but smile at the effectiveness of their new acquisition. His frail form shuddered with delight, his hands running through his long brownish hair.

"I assume it worked as it should have?" He heard a cold voice behind him. Turning around, he bowed in front of his lord before he dared to speak. "Of course. They may lost in the end and the gate was lost, but our chimeric creature showed to be even more powerful than imagined."

"Then why didn't you sent another of those stingers to the second gate that is now swarming with drones of the MBI?" Sarazar asked, not even looking at his servant.

"I am deeply sorry, but right now it is more difficult than I thought to create one. If I had more willing subjects, an army could be created in a short time." Atlus stuttered the last words of his excuse, bowing down deeply.

"Do they have to be willing? Couldn't we just capture humans and sacrifice them for it, like you do for your foot soldiers?"

"No, the last time I tried to achieve this, my team and I only created crippled creatures, weaker than everything else. O-Of course we are working on this and it will just be a question of time!" He quickly tried to reassure his leader.

"I hope so. For the sake of your life. Your brothers research could be used without him, I think it will be possible to replace you too." Without turning around Sarazar walked near the table that was covered in hastily scribbled formulas and a few test tubes. "After all, you are trying to achieve this transformation even against the will of the sacrificed one." He continued, now looking at one of the papers in front of him.

Finally turning around, he focused his shivering researcher. "Anyhow, I think you will be of more use alive for now. Take the new Angelos and send them to Samur. We need to find out what is happening in the garden. I don't want someone to interfere with our plans."

"We have one other Stinger, we could send him with them. Surely there would be no one able to stop them all." Atlus exclaimed, trying to appease his master.

"I want you to redesign him, to make him stronger than every other of those demons out there. No matter if they are created by you or came from the hell realm. Now sent for them. I want Samas to leave as fast as possible." And with this last words he strode out of the laboratory, his coat billowing behind him and leaving a shaken scientist behind

* * *

After a short trip through the city, Musubi dropped in the outskirts of the garden, setting down a heavy breathing Minato, who looked really happy to have solid earth under his feet again.

"Alright, let's search for her then. Just give me a few seconds." Minato asked Musubi, leaning against a tree.

"Or you could just stay where you are and don't get in the way of my Ashikabi. I will make the termination quick and painless for you if you do. The Green Girl will belong to Higa Izumi this or that way." A voice behind him called out.

Snapping in the direction of it, both of them could see another girl, obviously a Sekirei too. Wearing a miko-like outfit, but her most defining features were the two giant blades she carried. Combined with her messy hair and slightly crazed look in her eyes, she radiated danger. "I am Kaiha. I will be your end here."

"I am Sekirei No. 88 Musubi. I will defeat you here for Minato." She loudly exclaimed, before she lunged at Kaiha. Surprised by her speed, Kaiha jumped backwards to avoid the hit that shattered the tree near here and swung her blades like an X, only to miss Musubi who jumped back quick enough. The only victim of her attack was a part of Musubis clothing, which obviously didn't interest her, as she continued the pressure on her enemy.

Being driven back, Kaiha knew she had no chance in a pure physical confrontation. Deciding to tip the scales in her favor, she dodged a left hook, using one of her blades for a horizontal swing Musubi gracefully dodged with a cartwheel, only to be hit by a giant cloud of dust as her enemy sliced her second blade across the sandy ground. Using the short distraction she gained with her counter, Kaiha ghosted back in the forest, waiting for the chance to surprise her naïve enemy.

Luckily her plan was rewarded as Musubi all but jumped between the trees, missing her hiding spot. Waiting a few more seconds, she jumped at her from above, swinging her blades like scissor to end her forever.

"Musubi!" Hearing the fearful cry of her Ashikabi, she turned around only to see the two blades approaching her head. What saved her was the strong gust of wind that created a small whirlwind and knocked Kaiha of balance. Still trying to utilize the element of surprise, she swung a blade at the face of her enemy. To her surprise it stopped dead in it tracks.

Musubi caught the blade between her palms, all but crushing it in small splinters. Looking her in the eyes, Kaiha noticed that the happy, naïve look in her eyes was gone replaced by a cold indifference. Before she could react to the destruction of her weapon, she was yanked forward by her enemy and felt a fist being buried in her gut, effectively folding her due to the force of impact and lifting her from the ground.

Collapsing on the ground and gasping for air, Kaiha felt a finger on her crest. Without being able to resist, she just heard the nearly silent prayer of her defeater.

" _Fist of my contract! Break the unhappiness of my Ashikabi_." Was the last thing Kaiha heard, before everything faded to black.

* * *

Pulling his sword out of the stomach of the enemy he threw it at, destroying the tree in the process, Nero's mood constantly got worse. _'This reeks of the work of a powerful demon. There is no chance anymore that an amount of the weaker ones could have caused a transformation like that.'_ He thought to himself, as watched the remains of the assaults he encountered.

Looking over his shoulder just in time to see Akitsu shatter the frozen statues she turned her reptile like enemies in. Making eye contact, he gestured to move forward with a nod of his head. Continuing their silent track to the middle, he saw a clearing and even more important heard a familiar voice.

"I, I think you are the one who called for me, are you?" Minato said, sitting in the middle of the clearing, looking at a small, blonde girl, who stood in the middle of it. From her posture, she looked like she felt a mixture of confusion and fear, as if she wasn't sure if she should cry or run away.

"You are Kusano, right?" Minato continued in, what he hoped to sound like a calming voice. He took the fact that she didn't move away as the sign to slowly move forward, with both of his hands outstretched.

Standing a bit behind him, Musubi observed the situation in front of her with growing interest. Seeing her Ashikabi getting close to another Sekirei made her extremely happy on the inside.

"I want to help you, I am not there to hurt you in any way."

"And that is a lucky decision for you. Now step back, before I make you." Stepping out of the woodwork Nero marched on the clearing, his weapons still sheathed, but his hand already on his gun.

The reactions were imminent. Minato nearly jumped in place and turned around quickly, his eyes widening at the sight of the opponent that entered the arena and especially at the sword at his back. Musubi, also recognizing him and especially Akitsu, flexed her muscles and looked ready to directly attack her. The excited smile she wore earlier didn't fade, but seemed to change in a slight confused expression as she noticed Neros arm and armament.

"You are the one from earlier? You're an Ashikabi too? And you are here to kidnap her? And what is with your body?" Minato blurted out, staring at him wide-eyed and positioned himself between Kusano and Nero.

"You're atleast somewhat smart if you recognize me. And I am here to protect a little girl from assholes like you that try to use her for their sick game. So back off, before I grab you and throw your ass out of the garden!" Slowly stepping forward, balling his hands into fist, Nero noticed that Minatos female companion started to tense up, getting ready to move. Preparing himself for the initial assault, he suddenly stopped as his sense picked someone else up, who got close.

"Come on, hurry up. We are nearly there. I don't want to lose the chance of finding her for Mikogami just because you are too slow." Perpetrator of this taunting comment was a blonde girl, wearing a summer dress with a yellow stripe in the middle. Stepping out of the bushes nearby, she gestured behind her, obviously to get her companion moving.

"Shut up Mitsuki!" Not stepping out of the bushes but completely eviscerating them, was a, at least to Nero, familiar face. "You!" Yomi exclaimed loudly, pointing her scythe directly at Nero, completely ignoring the rest.

In the next second, the whole situation escalated. Seeing red, in the literal sense, Yomi tried to finish what she attempted to do the last time they met, only to be intercepted by a wall of spikes Akitsu directed at her. Using the distraction, Musubi and Mitsuki decided to attack Akitsu at the same time from two angles. Nero, who was closer to Musubi, intercepted her punch with straight right punch, not only stopping her, but also completely knocking her backwards. Using the momentum, he swung his arm to the right and caught Mitsukis ankle with his spectral arm. The force behind it sent her face first on the ground before he swung her over his head and planted her six inch deep in the ground.

Suddenly stumbling, he noticed that a huge amount of vines spread on the floor, grabbing his legs and yanking at the limbs of Yomi and Akitsu, separating both of them. More annoyed than anything else, Nero ripped his legs out of the green and turned around, seeing the reason for the growth spurt. Clinging to Minatos leg and crying, Kusano was the centre of the mutated plant life, which started to form a protective barrier around her.

"Goddamned, now this guy is trying to steal her! That's entirely your fault!" Yomi accused Nero, cutting herself out of the vines and turned around to do the same for her partner. An alarmed cry of her made Yomi spin back around, only to see Nero pointing Blue Rose in her direction and pulling the trigger three times, much to the horror of every person in the vicinity.

Feeling herself drenched in warm liquid, Yomi slowly opened her eyes surprised that she was still in one piece. What surprised and disgusted her even more, was not only the blood she was covered in, but also the leathery skin and lizard like pieces, which laid near her. Seeing the partial intact limbs splattered on the ground nearly made her vomit. Unlike her, Minato couldn't surpress his reaction to the carnage and presented the remnants of his dinner to everyone on the clearing. Meanwhile Kusano had her face pressed against his leg, her eyes clenched shut and silently sobbing.

Clenching his Devil Bringer in anger, Nero completely ignored the attention directed at him. Hearing a cracking out of the dense bush near him, Nero directly aimed his now reloaded gun at the source of the sound and slowly charged it. Waiting for a clear field of view and ready to deliver another round of death, he slowly lowered his gun and cursed silently when he saw the familiar figures, breaching out of the bushes.

* * *

 _A few minutes earlier_

"Come Mutsu, hurry up! Yomi and Mitsuki must be further inside, we have to catch up and continue searching for this Sekirei!"

"I think that just running blindly into the centre of the garden is a rather bad course of action. I have no idea what those things are or were they came from. It is only clear that they are dangerous. We should perhaps proceed more carefully now." Slowly sheathing his blade, Mutsu looked around once more. Out of all things he expected, peg-legged sock-puppets with blades weren't on the list. _'What has just become of this town in this short time. First this white-haired one, who is no ordinary man himself and now this things.'_

"So what, you killed them. They weren't even a challenge for you and I am pretty sure Yomi and Mitsuki can handle those things. They are just dirt-filled cloth bags." And with this comment he ignored the worries of his bodyguard to simply continue his way into the center of the garden with a lazy strode.

Atleast until he heard the gunshots in the distance. His eyes widening in shock, he ran into the direction of the sound, calling the names of his two Sekirei. Cursing over the recklessness or even borderline stupidity of his Ashikabi, Mutsu sprinted after and past him, drawing his sword on the way to cut whatever would wait for him.

What he wasn't expecting, were both of his comrades drenched in blood, a vomiting Ashikabi with his Sekirei beside him and the reason for this whole oreal behind him. What surprised him the most was the one white-haired one he thought about earlier and especially the fact that he was not only armed, but also his choice of weapons.

' _So he is the key to all of this'_ Mutsu thought, as he fixated Nero and readied himself for an attack, inwardly focusing on the possibility to kill him. The whole atmosphere became tense and it felt like the air charged itself with electricity as the stand-off continued. Both Nero and Mutsu knew inwardly that the other won't back off.

Nero slowly opened his mouth, whilst moving his left hand slowly to Red Queen on his back, his Devil Bringer still ready. Before he could talk to try and defuse the situation, all hell broke loose. Cracking out of the bushes were the violet clad twins, dragging a human between them who was most likely their Ashikabi.

Directly behind them and crushing through the trees, was the reason for the wild hunt, something that Nero knew very. It looked like a giant, green scaled snake, over ten meters long and massive. Where a head should have been, was only a flower like construct, somehow reminiscent to a carnivorous plant. Right on its tail were the offspring of the Echidna, zigzagging over the ground to their mother.

Opening up her flower-like head and presenting the female like form as she coiled up near the tree line, she greedily focused on Kusano, ignoring those around her.

"You! You little one will be mine and become the fertile ground my beautiful children will live and thrive upon!" She exclaimed with a high-pitched hiss, pointing at the trembling girl.

What brought her out of her hell-bent focus was the sound of an engine revving. Turning around she saw Nero, his sword now stuck in the ground and glowing with heat. "I thought you died in Fortuna. Guess I have to finish Dante's job then. Bring it on you hump of weed." He called out.

From the corner of his eye he could see the rest of the group changing their position against it, obviously seeing her as the bigger threat.

"Standing in my way is futile. This place will be mine, just like the rest of this city and neither you and your pathetic group nor those pesky summoners will stop me. Kill them my little ones! Make them ours just like those reptiles and bring her to me!" And with this scream, she plunged herself at the waiting part-devil.

 **Well I am done for now. Hope you liked it. If you do feel free to follow and/or favorite it. Or drop a comment.**

 **If you didn't like or have some critique and the likes for me, please write them also down, either as review or PM. Everything in that direction helps. Also. if I have grammatical errors point them out. I am trying to get better, but still have a long way to go**

 **Anyway**


End file.
